


looking for an interruption

by cinderlily



Category: As the World Turns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-11
Updated: 2010-06-11
Packaged: 2017-10-10 01:46:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke has trouble sleeping, Reid is his usual helpful self. (Spoilers up to today's episode and speculation about the future.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	looking for an interruption

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/profile)[**hc_bingo**](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/) challenge, the prompt being "insomnia". I've been trying to write this pairing for weeks but nothing came out, suddenly BOOM. Sixteen hundred words. I had the help of three (!!!) awesome betas. My lovely [](http://openice.livejournal.com/profile)[**openice**](http://openice.livejournal.com/) who is crazy and awesome and reads pairings she doesn't know. [](http://sripley.livejournal.com/profile)[**sripley**](http://sripley.livejournal.com/) (FASTEST BETA EVER) &amp; [](http://laurahellomoto.livejournal.com/profile)[**laurahellomoto**](http://laurahellomoto.livejournal.com/), who both were so sweet and read through this for voice help even though they don't know me from Eve. Talk about a welcoming group! Thank you all, seriously. ♥ (Any mistakes are still my own!)

Just past three in the morning and Luke gave up on sleep entirely for the night. His body was willing but his mind was restless and clearly his only respite was the idea that any work he got done would cut down what he would have to do during normal hours. It still felt weird to not have to sneak out of bed, even if it had been months since his bed had another occupant.

He flicked the light on at his desk and stared blankly at the stack of papers in the corner. The top one was for a Gala, the second for the wheel chair friendly playground he was hoping to build… All he had to do was sign the dotted line, make sure the numbers added up. He could do it in his sleep (that is if he _could_ sleep).

The third was for the hospital. Which meant that on the same page was the scrawling chicken scratch that in some language meant Dr. Reid Oliver beside where his name had to be. He stared at it, a million barbs on his tongue about typical doctor handwriting dying on his lips when he realized there was no telling him.

"_You or **my career**, Luke._"

He must've pushed the pen down too hard, the paper ripped when he went to make the 'y' in his last name.

"Crap," he muttered.

Clearly it was not his month. Or year for that matter.

He put it aside, making a mental note to grab the extra copy from the office when he walked in later on. He signed the rest of the papers by rote, his eyes barely registering what he was supposed to be giving his okay for. (Thankfully he trusted the people who worked for him.)

When he was done with the stack his eyes wandered back to the one on the edge. The fact that getting Reid's signature might actually require him to see the man in question was a mixture of exciting and frustrating.

After making such a huge point of Luke's need to make a choice, Reid Oliver had made one for himself. One that shoved Luke out of the picture. He shouldn't want to see him, but embarrassingly he still did. If he needed another reason to be annoyed with the man, there it was.

Mostly he was annoyed with himself.

He checked the clock. Not even four, if he worked it right he would have ample time to get to the office and drop off the finished work, grab the copy and leave it at the hospital for Reid to finish it later on. No need to see him.

*

  
He barely made it off the elevator before he was proven painfully wrong. In a weird case of déjà vu, he made it face first into one Dr. Oliver decked in scrubs. The papers in his hand fell flat on the ground and he let out a frustrated sigh.

Reid bent down and helped, a welcome change.

"Don't you ever look where you're going?"

He swallowed as they both stood up. "You're here?"

"I know, at the hospital. Where I work. It's a revelation."

Luke clenched his jaw. "It's four thirty in the morning, Reid."

"And we keep trying to tell the patients that but they insist on getting sick on their own time," Reid shrugged. "Better question is what are you doing here? They give the boss graveyard shift now?"

For a second he couldn't remember, to be honest, but the paper in his hand reminded him. "I need you to sign the equipment orders."

"The ones I signed yesterday?"

"That one had a little bit of an accident."

Luke held out the folder and made a motion for Reid to take it, which he didn't. Instead he gave Luke an appraising look. "You look like crap."

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes. "I've been having a hard time sleeping, okay?"

"You know they have medicine for that," Reid's snippy tone didn't match the concerned look he was giving Luke.

Luke put a hand up to rub at his eyes. "Doesn't count."

"I was unaware that sleep had a scorecard Mr. Snyder."

He turned to cover up his flinch. So he was 'Mr. Snyder' again. "I meant it doesn't count as _sleep_. Yeah it knocks me out for a few hours, but when I wake up I'm just as tired but twice as groggy. I'll sleep tomorrow."

"And you plan on functioning how?" Reid crossed his arms over his chest. "You look like a stiff breeze could knock you over."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling that familiar sting of where a headache was forming. "Could you just sign this so I can get out of here?"

A hand landed on his wrist and suddenly he was moving. He tried to protest but Reid was possibly a little too close to the truth about a stiff breeze and his mouth couldn't form the words before he was in Reid's office and shoved (none to gently) onto the couch. He blinked.

"Wait, what?"

Reid's back was to him, bent over the bottom drawer of his desk. Luke took the opportunity to appreciate the view. (He was human after all, even if he was still annoyed at Reid. Which he totally still was.) If the look on Reid's face when he turned around was any indication, he was caught. He forced himself to look away.

A hand came out in front of him holding two large gray pills.

"Isn't it illegal for you to give me that when you aren't my doctor?"

"Give me a shred of credit, it's Melatonin not Milk of Amnesia. You could grab this at your local pharmacy. Over the counter," Reid said, obviously annoyed. "If I wanted you to have a prescription I would've had someone else look at you."

Luke bristled. "Yeah, wouldn't want it to look like a conflict of interest."

Reid just handed him the pills and a small bottle of water, giving him an expectant look. Luke debated if he should take them or not, but if nothing else he trusted Reid's medical opinion. He swallowed the pills and chugged the water from the bottle.

"Now what?"

"Now close your eyes and sleep," Reid sighed dramatically. "What do you want from me, a story?"

Luke arched an eyebrow. "Medication isn't instantaneous."

"Once upon a time there lived a spoiled rotten prince…"

"Come on, Reid."

Instead of the biting retort he expected he got an intense stare. Reid moved to grab the chair at his desk and brought it to sit beside him. Luke felt an uncomfortable ball in the bottom of his stomach.

"What?"

"Bob's stepping down as chief of staff," Reid stared at his hands and Luke felt the room shift a little. Bob Hughes _was_ this hospital. "He asked if I would like to become co-chief of staff with his spawn."

Maybe the medicine was kicking in or it was just pure exhaustion, but it was a long moment before the sentence fully made sense in context. "You're going to be chief of staff?"

"_Co_ chief of staff. And don't act so shocked. It isn't like this stable has many prized stallions. He only asked Doogie to be the other half to save face."

"Who's face? Yours?"

Luke caught the slight jerk upwards of Reid's lips. "Well, I have to think about my modeling career after all."

"That's really awesome." He really meant it, too. It wasn't everyday that someone Reid's age got that type of prestige. Reid stared at him, something completely unreadable in his eyes. "… You did accept it, right?"

"I did," he nodded. "On one condition."

His eyebrows furrowed. If Reid was attempting to talk him to sleep, he was missing something. He shifted upright so he could get a better view of Reid's face. "You told Bob Hughes that you had a condition for your promotion?"

"Lay down Luke," Reid pressed a hand onto Luke's chest to push him back onto the couch. "And yes, I gave him a condition. One I should have made weeks ago."

"Which is?"

Another long silence possibly made longer by the fact that Reid's hand was still on the center of his chest. "My personal life is my own, my relationships are my own. It isn't his business and it isn't the investors business."

"So, **I'm** your condition?" Luke licked his lips a half a second before Reid made a move and suddenly Luke was being kissed. His eyes were still wide open, giving him a clear image of a light dusting of freckles on the bridge of Reid's nose. A moment later Reid pulled back slightly and Luke realized how unresponsive he was being.

He put his hand up and pulled Reid in by the chin. The second kiss was everything the first wasn't, Luke's eyes closed and a joint effort. Slow and relaxed, with an underlying hunger in the give and take.

"I guess you could say you're my condition," Reid smiled, forehead resting on Luke's. "More like an annoying rash that just won't go away."

Luke chuckled. "If we're going to do this, you're going to work on your pillow talk."

"Oh this is just my couch talk," Reid arched an eyebrow. "The pillow talk comes after rounds and when you get some actual sleep. Wouldn't want you to fall asleep halfway through and damage my fragile ego."

"Anything but that."

Reid got to his feet, breaking the contact and leaving a rush of cold air in his wake.

"_Hey_," Luke protested.

"Go to sleep. No need to get all clingy boyfriend on me already," Reid tossed over his shoulder. "You'll see me in a few hours, quicker if you're unconscious for part of it."

When the door closed Luke couldn't help but stare after it for a second. He yawned, eyes suddenly too difficult to keep open. His brain was blissfully blank, stress from earlier replaced by images of a small smile and the word 'boyfriend' tossed out so casually.

He shifted to his side and fell asleep.


End file.
